Garden Fresh To Table Recipes
We will highlight the best recipes using vegetables, herbs, and fruit from your garden to enjoy with your family and friends. These recipes will be using all those great fresh vegetables and fruit you have grown to make some of the freshest and best-tasting recipes.
There is nothing like fresh vegetables and fruit to make your favorite dishes taste fabulous, and know that they are healthy and organic without any chemicals.
Some of these recipes will show you how to preserve the flavors of these fresh vegetables and fruit to enjoy during the cold winter months.
When you have grown your own food there is the satisfaction of growing the food you eat but also having the ability to walk out in your yard and pick it fresh to prepare a meal.
The taste of food this fresh is so different than driving to the store or farm to bring it home and prepare not knowing how it was grown and when it was harvested.
Vegetable Recipes
Freezer Roasted Tomatoes
We use these in pasta or topped on toasted bread. The fresh flavor is preserved to eat during the winter which will remind you of the fresh tomatoes you ate during the summer months.
Spray the baking dish with cooking spray to keep the ingredients from sticking to the baking dish.
Quarter tomatoes to fill your baking dish
Add 1 large onion cut into small chunks
Add 2-4 T of diced garlic
Optional to add 1/2 cup of basil
Drizzle olive oil over the top
Bake at 350 degrees for 1 1/2 hours
Let cool before placing in quart-size freezer bags and placed in the freezer
Caprese
This is a great hors-d’oeuvre to serve in the summer. It can be prepared beforehand to make it easier for the host.
1 large white serving platter
5-8 medium size tomatoes, a mixture of red and yellow tomatoes are best for visual impact
1/2 cup fresh basil leaves washed and stems removed
Fresh mozzarella cheese
Balsalmic vinegar
Take medium size tomatoes and slice them about 1/4 to 1/2 inches thick.
Lay them out on the serving platter
Place one medium slice of fresh mozzarella on each tomato slice
Place 1 or 2 leaves on each stack of tomatoes and mozzarella
Drizzle your favorite balsamic vinegar
Refrigerator Dill Pickles
Here is a recipe for refrigerator dill pickles that are ready to eat in 3 days and last up to 6 weeks in the refrigerator, if you can make them last that long without eating them.
3 1/2 cups of water
1 1/4 cups white vinegar
1 T white sugar
1 T sea salt
4 Cups cucumber spears we use all kinds of cucumbers
2 Cloves garlic whole
2 Heads of fresh Dill
Stir water, vinegar, sugar, and salt in a saucepan over high heat. Bring to boil and remove from heat and cool completely in the refrigerator.
Combine cucumber spears, garlic, and dill in 2 large jars.
Pour the cooled vinegar mixture over the cucumbers in the jars.
Seal and refrigerate for 3 days
YUM YUM!!
Cucumber, Tomato Salad with Dill
Fresh Corn Salad
This is one of my favorite summer dishes loaded with fresh flavors and is easy to prepare.
5-7 ears of fresh corn
1/2 cup fresh basil
2 cups Cherry or Sungold tomatoes
Fresh Mozzarella Cheese
1/3 cup vinegarette (flavor of your choice)
Clean the corn by peeling off the outer layer of leaves and removing all the silk
Soak corn with leaves on corn in cold water for a few minutes
Cook corn on a gas grill turning every 10 minutes until the outer leaves are brown and some of the corn kernels are turning brown.
Remove the corn and let it cool before you cut the corn off the husk
While the corn is cooling chop the basil into medium size pieces
Leave the tomatoes whole
Cut the fresh mozzarella into small pieces
Mix everything and stir in the dressing
Veggie Blend
This is one of my favorite and easy ways to use whatever vegetables you have from your garden to use as a side dish or a great dish to take to Fall or Summer gatherings.
I will share what I have used for this recipe but know you can substitute any of your favorite vegetables you have harvested from your garden to make this great salad.
It is very similar to the corn salad above but in this one, I use whatever vegetables we have to pick from the garden and do not add any cheese.
You can also use as much as you like of each vegetable, make it the way you like it!
Recipe that I used for today
Corn I used 3 ears that I roasted on the grill for 20 minutes to add to the flavor of the corn
4 small cucumbers
1 medium size sweet red pepper
Before serving add 1 cup cherry sized tomatoes
1/4-1/2 cup of Newman’s Sesame Ginger Dressing
Mix the vegetables and dressing and refrigerate
Other veggies and herbs to add if you prefer that I have added, onions, carrots, fresh peas in pods, basil, and rosemary or you can eliminate any of the vegetables I used today.
Zucchini Bread
This recipe has been passed down from my wife’s grandmother. It not only tastes incredible but fills the house with a wonderful smell that cannot be beat.
Childs Veggie Face Snack
Not only is this a great way to get children to eat their vegetables but they will also enjoy helping to cut the vegetables up and lay them out to make the veggie face.
Take carrots and quarter them into 2-inch slices for the hair, 1 slice of chees quartered, 3 pea pods (1 cut in half for eyes the other 2 whole, 1 slice of red pepper, and round slices of cucumbers for nose and ears. You can substitute other vegetables in to provide favorites. This is a great healthy snack for kids that will also make them smile.
Fruit Recipes
Applesauce
To make applesauce you can use whatever apples are least expensive (I prefer to use a mixture of sweet and tart apples).
Peel, quarter, and core the apples. Depending on how large a pot will depend on how many apples you need.
Fill the pot with water just below the surface of the apples.
Cook on medium heat simmering the apples and stirring until the apples break down to the texture you prefer (I enjoy a little thicker applesauce)
Add 2-3 cinnamon sticks
Add 1 cup of sugar
Cook on low for 20-30 minutes longer
Cool and serve fresh, refrigerate to serve later, or freeze for eating during the winter.
Blueberry Smoothie
Place the following ingredients in a blender. You do not need to add ice if you use frozen bananas and fruit. If you use all fresh fruit you should add 1/2 cup of ice cubes.
1 Banana
1 cup berries you can mix or use one variety. (Blueberries, Raspberries, Blackberries, Strawberries)
1/2 cup nonfat plain yogurt
1/2 cup orange juice
Blend until it is the consistency you prefer. Pour into a large glass to serve
Preserving Blueberries and other berries
This is one of the easiest ways to preserve your berries for use during the winter.
Take your fresh-picked berries, place them on a cookie sheet pan, and place them in the freezer for 1-2 hours to firm them up. Now all you need to do is put them in a freezer bag to freeze.
By freezing them first to firm them up they will be less likely to stick together. I do not wash them before freezing, if you decide to wash them you need to lay them out on a paper towel to dry before freezing otherwise they will stick together due to the moisture.
Once frozen you can make smoothies, pancakes, muffins, or other great treats during the winter.
Now that you have grown all these great vegetables, herbs, and fruit you need to know what the best fruit and vegetable recipes are to use them in for you and your family.
